Odometer Fraud! 2008 Ford Ranger XLT Rolled Back Nearly 350,000 Miles!

The saga of a truck called Bill the Pony. Because I’m a nerd.

I do this to myself too often; get excited, don’t pay close enough attention, end up doing something entirely preventable and definitely regrettable. In this case, I was desperate for a new vehicle. A dark gray metallic 2008 Ford Ranger XLT with the coveted single overhead cam (SOHC) 4.0-liter V-6, five-speed manual transmission, and 8.8-inch rear axle driveline combo, to be exact. Asking price of $6,500 with 142,000 miles on the clock; for this third-gen Ford Ranger enthusiast, I had just tracked down a unicorn. The saying goes, “never look a gift horse in the mouth,” but if you’re buying a horse, always check its teeth.  

For those not familiar with California’s water situation, the winter of 2023 marked one of the wettest rainy seasons we’ve had on record. I would not consider myself one of the many Southern California drivers that forgets how water interacts with the road every time a little drizzle comes down, but on this particular January afternoon, twas much more than a drizzle. I underestimated the depth of a puddle (verging on small lake) on the highway, hydroplaned, spun, bounced off the center divider twice after sailing across all three lanes—narrowly missing three other vehicles—with an eerie lack of tire squeal, and the 2004 Ford Ranger XLT that had been my only vehicle since May 2012 was no more. Over 100,000 miles of seat time, four cross-country moves, so many significant life events, and I had to bid farewell to my beloved Chuck. Yes, I’m one of those weirdos that names all their cars. 

I never had plans to sell my ‘04 Ranger. The often-maligned 3.0-liter Vulcan V-6 ran like a top with 178,000 miles and counting. Filled with AMSOIL ATF, the Mazda M5OD-R1 five-speed manual was pretty snicky for a truck transmission. And, for a guy who doesn’t need or want a full-size pickup, Chuck was just about all I could ever ask for in a small truck. I mean, we could get into the South American market four-door crew cab Rangers, but not this time. I had grand plans to build Chuck into the perfect sport truck; enough power to cause a small ruckus, enough suspension to pull a muscle trying to stay in the stock seats around turns, and enough creature comforts to eat up road trips and not regret it. The best laid plans…

I’m a handy guy; I did all the maintenance on my boomer gold ‘04 Ranger while I was his caretaker, including Tony Angelo-style bench pressing the transmission in place after a three-day clutch job (if you ever catch me in the wild, I’ll tell you why it took me three days to change a clutch). So when Progressive Insurance came through with a much bigger total-loss payout than I was expecting, I wasn’t so sad about losing my old third-gen Ranger, because I had already found a newer, “better” Ranger.

This 2008 Ford Ranger XLT had all the stuff I wanted on my last Ranger, but couldn’t wait any longer to find. Now I had my 4.0-liter V-6, my rear jump seats (I don’t know why I want them, but I know I need them...for things?), my bigger and beefier rear axle assembly, and most importantly—one of my favorite colors on practically any vehicle—dark gray metallic. Only one problem: the 142-something thousand miles indicated were a total lie. 

Now, I’m not completely stupid. I checked under the hood and under the truck and was happy about what I saw: a normal amount of grime for a supposedly 140,000-mile work truck, no accident damage or rust, and (to my delight) recently replaced stock-style front suspension bits and newish brakes on all four corners. The SOHC Cologne V-6 sounded strong with no hints of the dreaded timing chain death rattle, the a/c blew cold, the alternator was charging, and other then definitely living its life as a road warrior going from jobsite to jobsite, the ‘08 Ranger seemed to be a gift from the universe. It passed smog, I talked the guy down a few hundred bucks, and my best friend and I (who drove 60 miles to pick me up only to drive 100 miles back in the same direction to check out the truck) celebrated with a cold beverage.

Over beers, the nerd talk started, “what are you gonna name this one,” blah blah. From 20 feet away, the gray metallic Ranger looks solid. Other than those garbage late-aughts Ford badges that faded on dealer lots, not many of the signs of a well-used work truck are immediately noticeable. It wasn’t long before I settled on Bill. Why Bill? Lord of the Rings, of course! I said I was a nerd at the top. When the hobbits left the Shire, and the Fellowship left Rivendell, amongst their pack animals was a pony named Bill. 

Bill was a half-starved and horribly-mistreated nag when the stalwart Samwise Gamgee took him into his loving care, but by the end of the trilogy he was a hero in the Shire and bore Sam to the sea to bid farewell to the ring-bearers of Middle Earth. Nerd! Seemed like a fitting name for an old work truck that I was going to refurbish and rebuild into my perfect third-gen Ford Ranger—then I found the service records.

This is where the excitement gets me—I had ten years of seat time in this generation of Ranger, other than the intricacies of the SOHC 4.0-liter V-6, I knew exactly what to look for—except for the folder full of service records the seller didn’t quite hide. I knew there were some shenanigans going on when “Javier” told me it would be a bill of sale, but he had a signed pink slip and in my combination of desperation and excitement, I didn’t listen to my gut fully.

After the nearly three-hour drive home, I found the old registration folder in the glove box, and more surprises—a bunch of service receipts! Javier claimed that the truck had been well-maintained, with recent work done before he bought it: the brakes, suspension, transmission, a few other things. The service records indeed confirmed that he wasn’t lying about any of the work that had been done to the truck, but they did out him for rolling back the odometer—340,000 miles (my best guess).

Have you ever gone into shock from reading something? Like, legitimate shock with a severe drop in blood pressure, cold sweats, narrowed vision and the whole deal? I pulled one record out, “mileage: 472,321.” The next, 465,592. The next, 454,489. Call Javier. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.” Shit. Carfax! $45 later…fuck. I just bought a 2008 Ford Ranger XLT with 482,000 miles. 

What do I do now? 

Well, it seems to be running fine and you’re a staff editor at HOT ROD Magazine who knows how to wrench. You’ve got friends and connections, you’re gonna be okay.

The first thing I did after getting it registered was clean the truck (thank you, not-too-shady DMV fixer). I don’t mean just wash the outside, I mean fully remove the interior and deep clean everything; shampoo, scrub, and vacuum away the 482,000 miles of work truck life—and my shame of not spotting the forgery on the pink slip before handing over the cash. Since I was in there, why not line the cab with sound deadening mats? A fully Kilmat-lined interior, precut Amazon tint applied in the dark with too much soap in the application solution and a scratchy squeegee, and a full Pioneer stereo system later—it took three days (why is it always three days whenever I pick up a wrench?), but Bill finally felt like my new truck and not just another mistake to add to the list of my life’s failures. 

I planned on telling the world about my incompetence through the digital pages of HOT ROD, hoping readers would laugh with me, but then I got laid off before I finished writing the article (real articles about cars that fit the brand were more important). And then the two year-old remanufactured transmission that was just out of warranty blew up. And the saga of Bill the pony continues…